(Yicai Global) Nov. 12 -- Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba Group Holding set another sales record this year for Double 11, the world's biggest 24-hour shopping event, but growth in turnover slowed from last year.

Alibaba's retail platforms Taobao and Tmall generated CNY268.4 billion (USD38.3 billion) in gross merchandise volume, up almost 26 percent from a year earlier, the Hangzhou-based firm said in a statement. That was 1.3 percentage point less than in 2018.

Alibaba started what has become the world's greatest display of consumerism a decade ago. Singles' Day, or Double 11 as it is also known because it takes place on Nov. 11, is a day of frenzied online buying by consumers chasing big discounts on everything from makeup and food to washing machines and cars.

"The growth has three drivers: increasing user scale, bigger discounts from sellers, and the new consumer experience," Jiang Fan, president of the two platforms, said in an interview with Yicai Global yesterday. 

Live streaming has become an important part of the new consumer experience in China. It allows buyers to interact with vendors and in this way dozens of individual brands have run up sales of CNY100 million (USD14.3 million), Jiang said.

More than 80 household names such as Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, Nike and Dyson each sold over CNY100 million worth of products in the first hour after sales kicked off at midnight, according to Alibaba. Some beauty brands joined the club within a couple of hours. Among exporters, US companies sold the most, followed by Japanese and South Korean firms.

The annual retail event doesn't just belong to Alibaba. For the 24-hour period, rivals JD.Com logged a 28 percent gain in GMV to CNY204.4 billion, while total orders placed with electronics retailer Suning.Com soared 76 percent as its mobile transactions more than doubled. Fast-growing Pinduoduo didn't release figures, saying it is more concerned with the consumer experience and the value of discounts offered.

Delivery companies handled a record 535 million parcels yesterday, up nearly 29 percent from a year ago, according to the State Post Bureau. That was also triple the average daily volume since the second quarter.

Editor: Emmi Laine